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World War II and Its Aftermath German and Japanese desires to expand brought them into conflict with France, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States, among others. The total devastation of World War II ended all claims of superior civilization among Europeans and stimulated anti-colonial movements to press for independence.
The Nazis conquered most of Western Europe with their blitzkrieg attacks. In subdued territories, puppet regimes sent millions of foreign laborers to work in German factories while genocidal policies sent Jews and gypsies to concentration camps. Soviet armies stopped Hitler’s advance at Stalingrad in 1942 and began driving him westward, gaining momentum when the United States and Britain landed at Normandy on June 6, 1944. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. Enormous destruction and death were left in the wake of the war. Six million Jews, a full two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish population, had been decimated in the concentration camps.
Anxious to create a colonial empire in Asia, Japan occupied Manchuria in 1931 and then attacked China in 1937. Unable to force China’s surrender, the Japanese imperial army brutalized the Chinese, particularly those in Nanjing. Determined to take the oil and rubber resources of Southeast Asia, Japan moved into Indochina but aggravated the United States in the nearby Philippines. Surprise attacks at Pearl Harbor aimed to weaken the Americans for a time and give Japan time to complete the conquest of Asia. Vast territories were taken, including the Philippines, before the Americans came roaring back. Japanese abuses did not win the support of the Asian peoples they conquered, and soon the United States had put Japan on the defensive. Despite overwhelming failures, the Japanese refused to surrender until President Harry Truman ordered the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After surrendering, Japan was then occupied by American forces. >> Continue to the next part of the Summary: The Beginning of the Cold War
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